Circuit-breaker for automatic electric railway-signals.



PATENTED SEPT. 15, 1903.

A. 'DOTY. CIRCUIT BREAKER FOR ACTCMATIC ELECTRIC RAILWAY SIGNALS.

APPLIOATION TILED MAR. 31, 1903.

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1 No. 739,066; PATENTBD SEPT; 15, 1903.

S R. A. DOTY. CIRCUIT BREAKER FOR AUTOMATIC ELECTRIC RAILWAY SIGNALS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 31, 1903.

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UNITED STATES Patented September 15, 1903,

PATENT OF CE.

ROY ARCHER DOTY, OF WATERLOO, IOWA, ASSIGNOR TO THE STORM RAIL? WAY SIGNAL COMPANY, OF WATERLOO, IOWA.

CIRCUIT-BREAKER FOR AUTOMATIC ELECTRICRAILWAY-SIGNALS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 739,066, dated September 15, 1903.

Application filed March 31, 1903. Serial No. 150,367. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, ROY ARCHER DOTY, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Waterloo, Blackhawk county, Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Circuit-Breakers for Automatic Electric Railway-Signals, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in make-and-break switches for trolley-actuated railway-signals; and the object of my improvement is to provide a mechanism which will without short-circuiting break the circuit through the signal-lights after a predetermined number of cars have left a tracksection upon which they have been moving.

My inventionis also intended to be an improvement upon the device shown in application of O. W. Campbell, Serial No. 139,752, filed January 20, 1903. bythe means which are illustrated in the drawings attached hereto, and in which-- Figure l is a front elevation of myimproved make-and-break switch. Fig. 2 is a side or end elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the trolley actuated contactswitch, and Fig. 4 is a diagram of the wiring and connections.

Similar characters of reference refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

It is frequently necessary and desirable on sections of single-track street-railway to arrange that several cars may pass upon and over a section of track after a signal-light has been ignited by the action of a trolley-actuated switch and that the signal-light may not be extinguished until after the predetermined number of cars have left said section. This result'has been heretofore effected by means of the use of a make-and-break switch containing a step-by-step device for limiting the number of the cars which may pass upon a section before the extinguishing of a signallight, and I therefore do not claim the stepby-step mechanism broadly; but as several defects in practice have developed I have modified the construction of such a switch so as to render it generally effective under all conditions and especially have so dissociated the actuating part of the switch from the lighting means that little opportunity is I effect this object .ing the circuit at 1).

left for short-circuiting the current through the actuating part.

A spur-wheel or two-way ratchet m has its shaft pivoted in bearings r 1'. The ratchet is turned in either direction, according as the actuating trolley-wheel is moving in the same direction, by means of pawls 7t and 1, respectively, movedby the armaturesf and g of the electromagnets a and b, to which they are pivoted. A current is passed through the electromagnets a, or b by means of any suitable source of electrical power, such as. a secondary battery, which produces a steady current incapable of great fluctuations. When the current thus used is derived from the trolley-wire,the constant great fluctuations of the power cause short-circuiting within and destruction of the electromagnets, which I obviate by taking the actuating-current from a storage battery and dissociating the actuating mechanism of the circuit-breaker from the lighting-circuit.

The wire 2 forms a connection with the storage battery 14: by means of the wire 12, while the wires 1 and 3, respectively, form connections with one or the other terminal of the trolley-actuated switch. A car entering a track section by means of its trolley-wheel actuates the pendant 18, which efi'ects a contact, whereby a circuit is established through the setting-electromagnet b. This circuit is completed by reason of the plate 23 on the insulated disk 19 contacting with the terminal 21 and the surface of the plate 23 8 contacting with the terminal 25, the current from the secondary battery 14: entering through wires 13 and '16 and passing from the terminal 21 through the wire 3 to the electromagnet b. The weight 24 on the diskcarrier 27 keeps the latter from vibrating and effecting a second contact when the pendant 18 drops back into its'original position. The parts of the apparatus are at this time set, as shown in Fig. 1, with the stud p of 5 the ratchet against the post q and said stud depressing theshort end of the lever t, raising the longer arm of the lever, thus break- The retraction of the armature g within the helix 1? causes the pawl roe Z to rise and set the ratchet forward one interval, the stud p rising and allowing the pendant of the lever t to fall and contact with the mercury-,which is contained in the vessel to. A circuit is thus established from the trolley-wire through the wire 5, bindingscrew y, plate m on the insulation w, the vessel u, mercury v, lever i, post .9, and wire 4, through the signal-lamps 6 and 9, illuminating them, thence to the ground. An oscillatory roller 0 in hangers n is provided to act as a stop upon the ratchet. Rollers h and 2', set in standards .2, keep the armatures in alinement and the pawls in position for ready engagement with the teeth of the ratchetwheel m. Arms 7c and Z project upwardly from the lower part of the pawls 7t and Z, respectively, and their function is to contact with the lower teeth of the ratchet when the pawl is withdrawn to keep the ratchet from moving farther than the space of one tooth at one time. Prolongations k and Z are added to the pawls 7c and Z, respectively, ex,- tending downward and contacting with the frame e, to keep the pawl from dropping out of position. The ratchet on may have as many intervals between teeth as desired. \Vhen each car passes upon the section, the

action of its trolley-wheel causes a momentary circuit through the setting-electromagnet I), and the ratchet is rotated step by step until the last car is upon the section. The studp on the ratchet on when the last car passes upon the section contacts with the post q and rotation of the ratchet in same direction is stopped. When the first car passes off the section, its trolley-wheel actuates the pendant of the overhanging switch, making a contact which establishes a circuit through the wires 15 and 1 and the releasing-electromagnet a. The armature f thus being retracted, its pawl 70 moves the ratchet 112 through the space of one tooth, and

the ratchet is thus rotated step by step until the last car passes off the section. When the stud 19 again reaches the projection shown in Fig. 1, the long arm of the lever 75 is raised, the contact with the mercury o is broken, and the circuit broken through the lamps, extinguishing them, indicating to an approaching motorneer that the section is clear. The use of mercury in the circuit, as shown, prevents sparking. In like manner cars entering the opposite end of a section cause the illumination of the signal-lamps 7 and 8.

-Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A device of the character described, consisting of the combination of electromagnets, a suitable source of electrical power connected therewith, armatures for said electromagnets provided with. pawls, a stud bearing ratchet-wheel arranged to be rotated in either direction by said pawls, a lever adapted to be contacted by said stud, connections from said lever to the trolley-wire,a terminal-adapted to be contacted by said lever, connections from said terminal to signal-lamps and thence to the ground, with a trolley-wire connected to a suitable source of electrical power and trolley-actuated mechanism for making and breaking a circuit through said electromagnets, substantially as shown and described.

.2. A device of the character described, consisting of the combination of'electromagnets, a suitable source of electrical power incapable of excessive fluctuations connected therewith, armatures for said electromagnets provided with pawls having prolongations, a stud-bearing ratchet-wheel adapted to be rotated in either direction by said pawls, a post arranged to contact said stud, a roller-brake for said ratchet, a lever adapted to be contacted by said stud, connections from said lever to the trolley-wire, a mercury terminal adapted to be contacted by said lever, connections from said terminal to signal-lamps at either end of a section of track and thence to the ground, with a trolley-wire connected to a suitable source of electrical power and trolley-actuated mechanism for making and breaking a circuit through said electromagnets, substantially as shown. and described.

Signed at Waterloo, Iowa, this 27th day of March, 1903.

ROY ARCHER 'DOTY.

Witnesses:

M. E. KENNEDY, O. B. KENNEDY. 

